


Save the Bees!

by dyingpoet



Series: newsies ships of new york [5]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Allergies, Canon Era, Fluff and Humor, M/M, like finch isnt really sick but nobody knows about allergies bc it's 1899 so they panic yo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 04:05:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18217961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyingpoet/pseuds/dyingpoet
Summary: Finch has seasonal allergies and literally nobody knows what that is





	Save the Bees!

**Author's Note:**

> done on request for @seasickdolphin on tumblr!!! hope u like it bb!!!!

Finch had sneezed a few times while the boys were getting ready that morning, and had gotten a few stares and eye rolls. Race had made fun of him for sounding like a kitten when he sneezed and the morning just moved on.

Then on the way to distribution Jack had cut off mid conversation with Blink to ask Finch to blow his damn nose or something because his sniffling was so loud. Seconds after that he fell into another sneezing fit, and the always perfectly timed Davey took that second to walk up.

“Woah, you okay?”

Finch tried to shrug off Davey’s hand on his back, but sneezed again, this time drawing the attention of the now much more concerned version of Jack, who walked up and frowned at Finch when he finally stopped sneezing.

“You gettin’ sick?” he asked, “because I don’t wanna ya sellin’ if ya are, we can’t afford that spreadin’ around with winter finally endin'.”

As nice as a day off sounded, even though Finch couldn’t really afford it, he didn’t even feel that bad, it was just his nose and his eyes really. And he’d  _ been  _ sick before, this was nothing.

So he shook his head, sniffling one more time and stepping away from Jack and Davey, calling over his shoulder, “Nah, I feel just fine.”

Davey’s protests faded behind him as he walked up to buy his papes, getting ten or so more than usual on account of how much he was sneezing. The more sympathy he got the better.

“Hey Finch!” 

Turning around, Finch saw Buttons following him with rushed steps, a usual light grin on his face as he skimmed the headline on Finch’s papers as if it was different than his own. “Wanna sell together today?”

Finch frowned, starting to answer when he looked over Buttons’ head to see Jack and Davey looking at the pair of them, both of them quickly looking down when they saw Finch watching. Mother-hens, he swore.

“Decided that all on your own, huh?” he teased, throwing an arm over Buttons’ shoulder and pulling him out on the street. If Jack’s idea of setting a watchdog on him was Buttons, he was doing him a real favor. “Nobody put ya up to it?”

Buttons shrugged him off and pulled him towards the street as a couple passed.

“Spare some change miss? My poor brother ain’t feelin’ too well and we can’t afford a doctor,” Buttons said, voice hoarse while Finch dropped a shoulder and coughed pitifully.

The lady pulled a penny out of her purse and handed it to Buttons with a hand over her heart, taking the paper and walking again. 

“Damn, think she’d spare a nickel for my poor orphan brother,” Buttons said with mock hurt lacing his voice, putting a hand over his heart to mimic the lady before grinning at Finch. “‘Specially with the gross, sick look he’s got goin’ on-”

He cut off with a yelp, rubbing at the place on his shin where Finch kicked him and pouting exaggeratedly.

“That ain’t what you said in the alley the other day,” Finch challenged, dropping his voice low so that only Buttons could have heard him. There wasn’t anyone around anyway but they couldn’t afford to be lazy about it. “Was it?”

Finch swore there was a blush crawling up Buttons’ neck when he rolled his eyes and dragged Finch along again. He looked at Finch when he sniffled again, rubbing at his now running nose.

“You really sick? I thought Jack was gettin’ all worked up over nothin’ like he usually does.”

“Nah,” Finch said, shaking his head. “Feel fine, honest. It’s just my nose runnin’ and my eyes are all itchy, but not like a cold or nothin’, I feel fine otherwise.”

Buttons made a face and studied Finch for a second. “Your eyes are all red, might be nothin’ but we should ask Jacobi about it. He likes ya and knows an awful lot about stuff.”

Asking Jacobi was much easier than having to admit to Jack that something was wrong, so Finch nodded. “After sellin’ we’ll go, no point in wastin’ me lookin’ all sick.”

They took off down the street after that, Finch making sure his breathing was extra labored, and even adding in a limp every block or so. They sold out a full two hours faster than usual.

* * *

 

“It’s allergies.”

Jacobi let go of Finch’s chin after inspecting his face for a moment, crossing his arms as the two boys started back at him, dumbfounded.

“I, uh,” Finch started, looking at Buttons for help but getting none. “What’s those?”

With the usual over exaggerated look of exasperation, Jacobi pointed toward the door. “In the spring all the flowers put dust in the air, it makes some people get like you are now.”

Finch frowned, the idea that  _ flowers  _ were making him feel sick didn’t seem quite right, but Buttons piped up before he could object.

“It ain’t contagious, is it?” he asked.

Again, Jacobi rolled his eyes this time starting to walk away from the two boys. “No, they aren’t.”

“Well that’s good, ain’t it?” Buttons said as he clapped a hand on Finch’s shoulder and grinned. “Jackie ain’t gotta fuss over you, and all you gotta do is stop smellin’ those pretty roses for a while.”

Finch felt his cheeks heat up, and he slapped Buttons’ hand away and started for the door, only stopping when he felt a hand on his forearm jerk him back.

“Hey, I was just teasin’,” Buttons said, cocking his head and squeezing Finch’s arm. “It don’t matter that you get al-al, what did he call ‘em?”

“Allergies.”

“Yeah, those,” Buttons agreed. “Everybody’s probably jealous, ‘cause you get all the sympathy of lookin’ sick without feelin’ bad at all!”

He made a good point, and Finch felt himself lighten a bit at that. “Yeah, I guess ya right.”

“‘Course I am,” Buttons said, “you outta know by now I most always am.”

Cuffing him over the head, Finch broke out in a playful run toward the door, hearing Buttons start after him. “All talk and no action.”

“That ain’t true!”

The both flew down the street as soon as their feet hit the pavement, racing each other and laughing through their quickening breaths the whole time. Finch had a good month or so full of sneezing, but Buttons was right, he made damn good money off of it. 

**Author's Note:**

> ayyy this was actually fun to write bc New Characters!!! hope u guys liked it as much as i did!!!
> 
> as a l w a y s if u leave kudos/comments ill love u forever <3 <3


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